The invention relates to snow removal equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for melting snow.
Snow removal has always been a problem in northern areas. It seems to have become particularly acute in the harsh winters of recent years. The conventional approach has been to move snow out of the way through the use of plows, tractors and shovels. This is usually the cheapest and fastest method of clearing the streets, and, where there is sufficient space to stockpile the snow, is undoubtedly the best procedure.
However, where space is a problem, this method, in and of itself, is often inadequate. Something must be done with the snow once it is plowed out of the way. In major cities the snow is often trucked away to outlying areas, or is deposited in parks or dumped into rivers or lakes. But many cities do not have the trucks and other equipment necessary for transporting snow. Moreover, even if such equipment is available, the transport operations are expensive in terms of man hours and fuel costs necessarily incurred. Also, such operations can further contribute to traffic congestion which is always a problem during and immediately following major snowfalls.
It has undoubtedly occured to many that one way to overcome these difficulties in clearing and transporting snow is to melt the snow and permit the resulting water to merely drain into sewers. However, a suitable snow melting apparatus has yet to be developed, and melting apparatus used for other purposes are unappropriate to solve the problems with melting snow.
For example, one type of tar melter includes a plurality of heating pipes which are designed to be positioned within the tar which can then be drained from the bottom of the apparatus. However, this apparatus is unsuited for use with snow because of various factors. First, only a small amount of snow will be in contact with the heating pipes and the remainder of the snow will be virtually unaffected. Second, it is likely that only a relatively small amount of heat will be extracted from the hot air as it passes through the pipes. Thus, substantial amounts of energy are lost to the atmosphere.
Hence, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a snow melting apparatus which effectively and reliably overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of prior art proposals.